




^'^^'•y ^^^y V-.' 






0* .'-..V ^-4.*\.-'" 


















' ^''% 





9^ '"^' ^"^ '^ 'ohO 






* ^^'\ o 




* ^^ 












0* *» • ' ^^ ^^' • ^ 'o- 'c^ 



v^ . 



^^ <v .>w>).\ '%^c^ 



^^^^ 



.0^ ^o. 




'^9" 










AVE MARIA. 



BY y 

CHARLES HANSON TOWME, 




CINCINNATI, 

THE EDITOR PUBLISHING CO., 
1898. 



'5 .•■ 



.^0 COPIES REGOVED- 






S59'^) 



Copyright, 1898, by 
THE EDITOR PUBLISHING GO. 



TO THE ^ 

REV. JOSEPH H. McMAHON, 

THIS LITTLE VOLUME IS INSCBIBED, WITH 

AFFECTION AND GBATITUDE, 

BY 

THE AUTHOB. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Page 

Mary, vii 

Brotherhood, viii 

Mater Dolorosa, ix 

Sacred, x 

To A Rose, xi 

Kindred, xii 

First and Last, xin 

"Prat for Us," xiv 

The Immaculate Conception, xv 

The Mirror, xvi 

Mother and Child, xvii 

The Assumption, xviii 



MARY. 

/^ NOBLE type of sweetest womanhood ! 

^^ O mother-maid who knew nor shame nor sin, 
With heart so pure that those who search 
therein 

Can find but that which is supremely good, 

Thou hasfnot vainly thro' the long years stood 
Model of chastity ; nor hath it been 
Without God's plan that thou shouldst 
sweetly win 

Souls unto Him who shed His precious blood. 

A h ! who hath not been better since he knew 
This mother meek, this maiden undefiled? 

And who hath not, for her sake, as he grew 
To manhood, tried to be a little child 

In thought and deed, as pure as she w^hose breast 

Pillowed the Christ-child's head and gave Him 
rest ? 



BROTHERHOOD. 

TT OW can I draw more near to Him 
^ ^ Than thro' this one so dear to Him? 
For if I call sweet Mary " Mother," 
As He did, am I not His brother? 



VIII 



MATER DOLOROSA. 

' I 'EACH me to weep, sweet mother-maid, 
^ As thou didst weep for thy dear Son. 
How Christ would love me if I shed 

One tear for Him like thine — just one. 



IX 



SACRED. 

' I \HE ground where He hath trod is sanctified, 

-*■ The very air He breathed is holy, too ; 
Thrice sacred is the cross on which He died 

And suffered for the world — for me and you. 

Ah ! could we have one thorn that kissed His 
brow, 

How hallowed would it be because it pressed 
That sacred head that learned to humbly bow, 

Obedient to grief, unknown to rest. 

O Mary ! since upon thy virgin heart 

He lay and slept amid His early years, 

Thy bosom is a place all set apart. 

Blest, blest indeed, made sacred by His tears; 

All sanctified because He nestled there. 

Made holy by His presence, undefiled ; 

Then glad am I to fall in slumber where 

He slept and dreamed when but a little child. 



TO A ROSE, 

POUND DEAD ON THE VIRGIN' S ALTAR. 

O favored flower, to die at Mary's feet! 
I think a death like thine must be most 
sweet. 
No pang, no sad regret, no thought of fear 
Would come to me if, dying, she were 
near! 



XI 



KINDRED. 

O INCE Christ Himself became the loving Child 
*^ Of Mary undefiled, 

How glad am I to call that mother mine 
Who nursed a Son divine ! 



XII 



FIRST AND LAST. 

^r-pwAS Mary's face the Christ-child first did 

^ see 

On that bleak winter night in Bethany ; 

And by His side 
On Calvary she well-nigh broke her heart 
For love of Him, nor wandered once apart 

Until He died. 



XIII 



**PRAY FOR US." 

T TAIN, dost thou say, to supplicate her aid? 

^ Be not afraid; 

For He who heard her voice and did her will 
Must hear her still. 



XIV 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 

TD ECAUSE thou wert the flower wherein 

-*— ^ Heaven's holiest Dew would one day rest; 

Because upon thy lily heart 

Would bide, ere long, the Perfect Guest, 
Lo ! God kept sin apart from thee, 
Lest sin should taint Christ's purity. 

Because thou wert ordained to be 

The cup to hold the Living Wine ; 

Because upon thy breast alone 

Would rest the Christ-child's head divine, 

God did preserve thee pure within. 

Immaculate, unknown to sin. 

O perfect flower, wherein was laid 

The perfect Gift, God's only Son! 

O matchless lily, on whose heart 

Slept peacefully the Matchless One, 

There was no flower on earth like thee 

To woo from heaven Divinity ! 



XV 



THE MIRROR. 

OO oft He gazed both long and lovingly 
^^ Into thine eyes so fair, 

That when I look therein, lo ! I can see 
His own reflected there ! 



XVI 



MOTHER AND CHILD. 

T NEVER think of thee apart from Him, 
^ Nor Him apart from thee; 

Lo ! ever near thy Son, with mother-love, 
Thy tender face I see. 

Would that my heart such love for Him might 
show. 

Forever, day by day, 
And would that I might follow Him, as thou, 

Along His sad, dark way. 



XVII 



THE ASSUMPTION. 

TV T O spot of earth was fair enough to keep 
^ ^ Thy virgin form that lay in death asleep, 
Ah ! heaven alone was fair enough for thee, 
Thou miracle of heavenly purity. 



XVIII 



W 18 









,0^ 









^. .^ 



<^ 



